Persephone
by badjujube
Summary: Evil vampire overlords deserve love too, right? A chthonic love story in four parts. Complete.
1. Abduction

**Chapter 1: Abduction**

Really, the whole thing was her fault for being friends with those vampires, if you can call them that. Not that I would say that to _her_, she'd be furious!

But if she hadn't been friends with the Cullens, she would have never been brought to my attention. And if she had never been brought to my attention, I never would have decided that I _had_ to have her; that I couldn't _live_ without her. (See what I did there? I'm not even alive! Such a clever beast!)

Anyway, if she hadn't been such a delectable little slice of humanity hanging out with those ersatz vampires, she never would have come up on my red-eyed radar. But she was, and I found myself looking at the thoughts of that reprobate James and his spooky-crazy little girlfriend, Victoria, at this delicious little brown-haired, rosy-cheeked piece of heaven and wondering; "What _are_ those dastardly Cullens up to?"

I mean, they_ are_ famously freakish with their yellow eyes and their deer-breath. But befriending teenage girls? I had never known them to actively seek out the company of humans, to "hang out" with them, so to speak. They worked and went to school with them, and I suppose that undead Donna Reed, Esme Cullen, might do the occasional PTA bake sale. But Rose and Emmett Cullen going to the movies with a human girl?

Not only that, but I _know_ there are movie theaters to be had in that Podunk town they live in, not to mention the bustling metropolis that is Port Angeles, but they drive that yellow (_yellow!)_ Porsche to Seattle_, my_ _city_, to see a film? That's just gaudy. It was a blatant cry for attention. So I gave them some.

I'm _far _too busy to do everything myself - that's why I have underlings - so I sent James and that nut-bag he calls a mate to do some reconnaissance. Which I have to explain the meaning of, because they are not the smartest bloodsuckers in the Underworld. They come back saying that the blonde-hottie and the big one are "just going to the movies with a girl". Duh.

But what they _don't_ share with me is what a fine, fine girl she is. She's got the best smelling blood since, well, since they've _never_ smelled. And Jamie and Freaktoria are going to try to keep it from me? Forgetting that their vapid, slimy little minds are easier for me to read than a comic strip. Amateurs.

So I send Jasper, my right-hand monster, to go have a talk with them about how secrets can hurt - and I mean _hurt_ - and I leave the Underworld, which is what I call my little Pacific Northwest bat-cave, and slip over to Forks to have a sniff of the dark-haired gourmet meal those silly Cullens dangled in front of my face. I mean, really, a _yellow_ Porsche? Just asking for it.

So, to prove a point, I was as subtle as a breeze, driving to Forks in a Volvo (safest thing on the road, they say) and wearing my best "ordinary guy" clothes: khakis, Converse and a Pink Floyd t-shirt.

I know I'm never gonna be able to slip past the Cullens in this little tiny town, so I decide a direct approach is best.

I pull my Volvo up to the Cullen's house in the woods and give my biggest smile to the four yellow-eyed vampires that come out to greet me.

"Greeting and salutations," I say, taking a bow. Rose (the pretty blonde one with the bad attitude) is looking at me with a scowl. The rest of them are looking at me with their best neutral social-fakey non-smiles. Except the enormous one, Emmett. He has a grin to match his body. Cheeky thing.

"Edward, this _is_ a pleasure. Won't you come in?" Carlisle is the most civilized monster I know. There is no _way_ he wants me in his house. I take a minute to get a read on everyone.

Blonde-and-Bitchy is thinking about how she wishes I would burst into flames, and Big-Guy is wishing I would do something threatening so he can beat me up. Esme is mentally wringing her hands with worry about what is going to happen, and I'm getting _no _read on Carlisle because he is reciting the Magna Carta in Arabic. Interesting.

I can hear from their thoughts that they have a recent addition to their little veggie commune. A little black-haired girl. I decide not to worry about it. Five is a largish coven, but I have four times that in Seattle. Plus, _we're_ not peacenik hippy freaks.

"Where's…Alice?" I pause while plucking her name out of the big one's head.

Carlisle doesn't bat an invincible eyelash. "She's hunting. She'll be sorry she missed you."

Esme offers me a seat on her white leather couch. Such hospitality. Some of the savages in the Underworld could benefit from Esme's tutelage.

"What brings you here, Edward?" Carlisle peers at me with a kind smile, as if I'm a pesky neighbor here to borrow his lawnmower or something.

"Well, I have a situation that concerns me. It seems your children," at this I gesture to Emmett and Rosalie, "accompanied a young lady to Seattle recently, and I was concerned about the stability of our agreement." Rosalie snorts and I give her a smile. "In short, I was concerned about your delightful offspring falling off the wagon in my territory." Carlisle gives me a patient smile.

"I thoroughly understand your concern, and would like to assure you that the young lady in question is alive and in perfect health. I apologize for causing you such anxiety and a wasted trip out here to Forks."

"I would never presume to question your honesty, but I don't suppose, since I've driven all this way, you could show me?" I am trying to weasel her location out of their thoughts, but Emmett and Rosalie have switched to some, well, _amorous_ thoughts and Carlisle is still blocking me with children's rhymes translated into binary code. Esme, however, can't resist thinking of the little mahogany-haired mystery girl. It quickly flutters away before I can discern a location, unfortunately.

"Edward, you can tell from our thoughts that she's still alive and in good health." Hmm, Carlisle knows I can read minds. Not surprising, he's been around for a while and we _are_ sharing this great state of Washington.

"You're right. I'm sure she's just fine." I get up, accompanied by the big guy and Carlisle. "Thank you, Carlisle. Esme." I bow to her and the other Cullens. "It's been a pleasure. I'll let myself out."

I know that I can get James to track my little entrée down, so I drive back to Seattle, trying to figure what the Cullens were doing. I mean, I guess it _could_ have been an honest mistake, taking the little thing to Seattle.

Either way, I have to figure out how to play this to my advantage.

I am greeted upon my arrival in monster-Mecca by my partner in crime, Jasper. Really, I am the Boss Hogg of this whole ominous organization, but Jasper and I are as close as two blood-sucking mosquitoes from the same egg. He's a frightening combination of vampire-scaring know-how, strategic genius, and the ability to suss out and control whatever you're feeling. He's a formidable asset and I make sure to keep him as happy as a century-and-a-half-year-old empath can be. By which I mean, he can be a little moody despite the cozy little set-up we have here in the Emerald city.

I should take a minute to brag about my kingdom. I have supernatural say-so from Portland to Canada, excepting the Peninsula, which Carlisle shares with some overgrown dogs. I have almost twenty vampires reporting to me. That, accompanied by the advantageous weather, makes this the most powerful coven outside of Italy. A fact that I am trying hard to hide from the powers-that-be in Italy. They would be displeased, to say the least.

But I get bored, and this little slip-up of the Cullen's was just the kind of thing to entertain me.

I tell Jasper to have Jamie track down my tasty little brunette and bring her back here. And because I don't trust James any further than I can throw him (which is quite far), I tell Jasper to go with him.

Now, normally I don't go for take-out, but I couldn't resist sending the Cullens a message that if they left their toys lying around I might take them away. Plus, I was intrigued.

Jasper let me know the next day that they had gotten their hands on my sweet little snack and that she was waiting for me at my apartment.

I have to say that some might think it's unfair for me to make my minions live underground while I put my feet up at a penthouse apartment with a view of the Space Needle. But I will have you remember that I am the Grand Poobah of those leeches with legs. Additionally, I have the dubious pleasure of reading minds. It's simultaneously the secret of my success and a major pain in my perfect ass. Having a specially zoned apartment on the top of an office building gives me a little bit of quiet at night and on the weekends when the building is empty. It's the only way I can get enough quiet to decompress from the stress of being so fabulous and malevolent in addition to having to hear the thoughts of every idiot that gets within a few miles of me.

So I push the button for my penthouse that afternoon with a spring in my step. I am _so_ looking forward to this. It's rare that I allow myself the indulgence of a teenage girl. I rub my hands together, hoping she's a virgin, because, yes, the rumors are true, they _are_ the tastiest.

I run my hands through my messy hair and wink at myself in the elevator mirror. What? But vampires can't see themselves in mirrors, you say? Do you really think I could have survived the past century without the pleasure of gazing upon my own handsome face?

The elevator dings and the doors slide open and I poke my head out. I can smell something especially tasty, like when you come home from school and your mom's been making your favorite cookies. If your favorite cookies were made out of blood.

In the living room, tied to a chair, is the teenage treat I saw in James and Victoria's heads. But seeing her through other people's eyes is like trying to watch a movie projected on a rocky beach. She's…so much more and so much less than I expected, all at the same time.

More, because she's got the best smelling blood I've ever smelled in a century in the blood-sucking biz.

More, because I find myself wishing she was wearing a tighter sweater and I don't even _like_ having sex with humans. Too squooshy.

More, because when I make contact with those big brown eyes I get dizzier than an emo kid huffing paint.

Less, because - for the first time in my life - I can't read a human's mind.

**a/n: The dedicated and beautiful Betham betaed this and she is trying hard to wean me off of my apostrophe addiction. A version of this was originally in the Fandom Against Domestic Violence compilation as a one/shot. I'm posting an expanded version here as a four chapter thingie. There's a banner link on my profile page. Thanks for reading! xoxo JuJu**


	2. Pact

**Persephone 2: Pact**

I stand there staring at my petite raven-haired repast and try to figure out a good first move. I mean, clearly this will end in me enjoying her blissful-smelling blood, but I just _have_ to unpack her other treasures first.

I shoot a glance at Jasper to see if he's caught on to how disoriented I am. He's giving me a tiny smile and raising his eyebrow, but his thoughts are tied up in how Jamie was thinking about sampling my meal on the drive here.

"Deal with it," I say to him, just to get him out of here. I mean, I trust him, but I need to be alone with this little ball of teenage mystery.

He nods and passes me on the way to the elevator. He turns and nods to her, "Miss Swan," he says, and then he's gone.

She's had those big brown eyes fixed on me this whole time.

And she smells soooo good.

But I can't just eat her. I have to figure out how she's keeping me out of her head. I'm just grateful she's tied to the chair because, if she was moving around or I had to keep her from running, I'd lose control and drink up that marvelous blood that's taunting me like a playground bully hopped up on fruit roll-ups and chocolate milk.

I pull up another chair and sit down facing her from about 10 feet away. She still hasn't said anything, just fixed me with that baleful glare. Which stands to reason, because I've got her tied to a chair. It's not the sort of thing the modern girl goes for, or so I hear.

"What's your name, Dear Heart?" I ask, finally. "Jasper called you 'Miss Swan', but I don't stand on formality like that old Southern gent. Tell me what your near and dear call you."

She just clenches her jaw and continues to glare at me.

"This is stupid, Angel. You have no idea who you're dealing with." I get up and begin pacing the apartment. She watches me stalk back and forth from the dining room to the living room. Her infuriating silence is testing my patience and universal goodwill.

Finally, I walk back to the kitchen and, moving deliberately, I pick up the chair I was sitting in and throw it against the far wall so hard that it shatters like glass and the pieces explode across the room. She shrieked once, in terror, and then looked down at the bits of wooden debris in her lap.

"Well?" I said, leaning on one arm on the table and glaring at her. "Are you feeling like warming up to me now?"

"Bella," she said quietly, looking down at her lap, her shoulders shaking.

"See, Bella," I purred her name, feeling it on my tongue. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" I grab another chair and pull it just a little closer this time. "Now tell me, Buttercup, how are you keeping me out of your precious little noggin?"

She frowns at me, because, of course, she has no idea what's going on here. The Cullens have surely not told her what they are, because to do so is to break the only law we have. Telling this little dreamboat of a girl would bring the wrath of the Volturi on them. And fearing the Volturi is the one thing that the Cullens and I have in common. Because they are _scary_, even scarier than yours truly.

The sound of "Sympathy for the Devil" breaks into the romantic mood I'm trying to establish here and I see Jasper's number on the screen of my phone.

"Jasper," I growl into the phone. "This had better be good. I'm trying to spend some quality time with my girl."

Bella's eyes widen at this, because I _am_ that irresistible.

"Carlisle's called to say he's coming to Seattle. He knows we have her." My immortal man Friday says, like the good soldier he is. I say some impolite words and tell him to get up here to watch my little human honey.

So I tell my new friend that Jasper's going to untie her and let her have the run of the place, but that it's easy-peasy to find her if she gets lost. And I take my leave to go set up a little tête-à-tête with Fork's freakiest.

I make sure that Jasper gets my warm little obsession some food and that he's keeping an eye on her so she doesn't fly away. He's really the only one I can trust with a job like that; it's so hard to find good help these days.

I arrange to meet Carlisle away from our respective fiefdoms; neutral ground and what-have-you. We sit at the covered outside tables of an El Pollo Loco in Port Angeles, poking at our chicken tacos like a couple of golf buddies.

He's the picture of concern about the penthouse pajama party I'm having with his kids' friend.

"Edward, I wish you would let Isabella go. She's innocent, and if my children knew they had endangered her they would be horrified." Carlisle wrings his perfect hands and frowns at me mildly. I try to convince him not to get his cardigan in a twist.

"Carlisle, I have no intention of hurting her, " I lie. "She merely intrigues me with the silence of her mind. I've never encountered anything like it. I just want a chance to find out how she does it." This was mostly true. Except the part about having no intention of harming her. That part was pure balderdash.

"We have always had an agreement to protect each other from the Volturi," Carlisle spoke deliberately. "If I were to alert them as to the size of your coven, they would surely have objections." All this was true; Carlisle and I had a sort of uneasy détente to protect the other from the Volturi's paranoia.

"How can I prove to you that I mean her no harm?" I gave Carlisle my most earnest look. He shrugs and I get an idea.

"Give me a month. In thirty days she'll be unharmed. If she's missing an ounce of blood, you can notify the Volturi that I've been stockpiling talent. If she's happy and healthy, you'll let me keep her." I figure I can hold off on munching on her until then. I am a disciplined man, I mean beast.

"I don't feel comfortable just handing her over to you…" I am getting a little nauseous being this close to his morals, so I cut him off at the pass.

"If you chose _not _to accept my terms, I'll tell Aro that you not only are befriending humans but that you've added to _your_ coven." Carlisle opens his mouth to correct me and I put my hand to my mouth dramatically. "Oh, my bad. Your _'family,_' I mean." Carlisle frowns at me but lets it go.

"I'm not thrilled, Edward, but I guess you have me backed into a corner." He reaches a chilly hand out to shake on our deal. I shake his hand with a smile, and even give him a friendly pat on the back and send my love to the Mrs. as we leave our disheveled chicken tacos and diet cokes on the sticky table.

I know I have to keep my fangs out of the lovely Miss Swan for the time being, so I am extra careful to be well-fed before I visit with her. I have every intention of eating her after I crack the code, but Carlisle doesn't need to know that. I find myself spending more and more of my valuable time with her, but get no closer to the secret of her silence.

What I do realize, though, is that she is utterly entrancing inside and out. I mean, I already thought she was dead sexy and lovelier than a million flowers, but she's also quite intriguing, sweet, funny and smart. And brave? After that first night when I pulverized the seating arrangements, she displays not a lick of fear around yours truly.

Bella's was the one mind I couldn't manipulate, but she gave me her attention and the pleasure of her company anyway. She should have hated me, but instead she accepted our closeness by coercion with grace.

She tells me all about her lonely, drab little life before I whisked her away to a life of luxury. Her stoic but sincere policeman father, her absent mother, her boredom with the small-town Lotharios of Forks High and their Saturday-night-at-the-movies backseat fumblings, copping a feel of my precious girl's assets while pinning on a wilted rose corsage on prom night. She glows as she tells me of her love of books and her earnest desire that there be more to life than just growing up, getting old and biodegrading in the ground.

In turn, I tell her about my humble origins and rise to power. Pre-Great War pickpocket changed by a preternatural pedarast who quickly regretted telling me how vampires get dead. My struggles while I learned to control my ability to steal thoughts the way I had lifted wallets as a mortal man. How my decades of wandering had gotten boring and fueled a desire to settle in one place, and how I had built a denizen for the undead and convinced my eternal associates to join my little pack of predators.

"It must get lonely, though," my fresh-faced little fixation asked. "I mean, spending all your time viewing people as something to manipulate. Never being able to get close to someone just to be _close_. Never knowing whether someone likes you for who you are or because you are manipulating them."

I have to stare at her innocent little face in surprise. Truth-be-told - and it rarely is around here - it had never occurred to me that there was anything missing until now. I had everything I wanted. Power, good-eatin' and all the women I could charm. I had never even imagined that I would be interested in having someone care about me for the contents of my non-existent character and long-submerged soul.

Until my sable-haired main squeeze showed me how blissful it could be.

Plus, she was smart enough to keep up with my brilliant conversation; stupid enough to not be afraid of me. I was in love.

So smitten was I with my delectable little chocolate-eyed goddess that I began to plan how to make her mine forever.

**a/n: Betham betas this, thank God. The patient and generous WriteOnTime pimps it like a…well, like a good smelling virgin, I guess. Thanks for reading and reviewing and re-tweeting and all those other "r" words! Xoxo JuJu**


	3. Repercussion

**Repercussion**

I suppose a lesser imperishable paramour would have questioned whether it was a good idea to fix my metaphorical cap on a mortal girl whose mind was a mystery.

Not me.

I mean, she knew what I was. It wasn't hard to figure out when she put together my red eyes and my funny-acting, feral friends. To her credit, she accepted it pretty easily. Once I decided that she was the girl for me I was careful to keep my standard spookiness low key, and I laid on my natural supernatural charm. I was pretty sure that I could get her to see things my way, but I had to worry about maintaining the eggshell-walking equilibrium of my agreement with Carlisle. I was pretty sure he and his sissy spawn would object to the idea, so I couldn't just _take_ what I wanted. As light in the loafers as he was, Carlisle hefted a certain weight with the powers that be in Italy. I had to be calculating.

I spent my days with my mortal morsel deliberately. We watched movies - never too scary, chattered up a storm, and read the classics together - emphasis on the romance. I was the resolute Romeo I had never before been. I reluctantly left her only when I needed to feed or to throw my weight around in the Underworld, charging Jasper with guarding my treasure.

Finally, my thirty days with my dessert had passed and, as agreed, Carlisle came to visit my love nest. This time he brought his hulking son, Emmett, which I guess was supposed to scare me since he's the size of a grain silo.

Carlisle got to see with his own yellow eyes that Bella was unharmed and she even admitted that, although she was getting a little pent-up-in-a penthouse fever, she had enjoyed her stay at Maison de Masen. At this she blushed and wouldn't meet my eyes, coy little coquette she was.

I ushered Carlisle downstairs, leaving the walking barn upstairs with Bella and Jasper. We got a quiet seat at a Starbucks and talked turkey about my love life while swishing grande lattes around in our green and white cups.

I decided not to beat around the mulberry bush with this weasel. "Carlisle, I'm smitten with the lovely Miss Swan. I want to assure you that I have every intention of doing the right thing and marrying her. I want to change her so she can run the coven with me."

Carlisle fixed me with that centuries-old compassionate gaze. "Have you talked with her about this, Edward? How does _she_ feel? How do you know that's what she wants?"

I felt a trace of something I hadn't felt in so long that it was hard to place it: insecurity.

"How could she not?" I sputtered. I mean, really, what was he asking? "I'll make her a _queen_. Her merest wish will be indulged." I could tell my argument was getting nowhere with Carlisle. He didn't care that I would give her anything she wanted as long as it wasn't a pulse. He cared about her _feelings._

"I'll make you a deal, then," I said. "Since you have doubts about her affection for me. Give me another month, I won't lay a finger on her. _She'll_ make the first move. When she does, you'll let me change her, no problem."

"And if she doesn't?" Carlisle asked, that fucker.

"I'll…let her go." I almost choked on the words but I felt confident in this. I thought of her blushes when we were close, her laughter when we were together, the times I had caught her looking through her lowered lashes at me.

Carlisle considered my offer and then nodded. "Deal." We shook hands like two men who hadn't just agreed to potentially turn a girl into a vampire.

Dear Reader, have you ever tried to woo a girl without touching her? A girl you kidnapped? I thought not. It wasn't easy. I did everything I could to create a romantic mood and to encourage her to make the first move.

Romantic candle-lit dinners (albeit with the eating a little one-sided), picnics in the park (at night, of course), a veritable ocean of flowers. I even played the piano for her. I was the picture of the perfect blood-drinking beau.

The days flew by and, as we approached the end of the month, I was beginning to get desperate, an unusual and unpleasant condition for me. I contemplated having Jasper use a little mood-magic on her but I was afraid that Carlisle would suss it out and make a fuss. Normally I had no problem playing dirty, but my little pulse-having princess had a close relationship with the Cullens and I was terrified that she would let slip being struck by a sudden compulsion towards cupidity and they would have me over a barrel.

Bella and I had just a few hours left together when I played my last card. Thus far I had been playing it light, but I realized that she was going to need a little more persuasion. It was time to appeal to her pity.

I slumped down in a chair and stared out my window at the rainy city and let out a big sigh.

There was no response. So I let out another (slightly louder) sigh.

"Are you Ok, Edward?" my tender-hearted teenage dream asked from the kitchen, where she was making cookies.

"I'm just thinking, Dear Heart." I made sure to sound as sad as possible.

"About what?" She came out of the kitchen, wearing an oven mitt and with a smudge of flour on her lip.

"Well, it's just that…is it so awful being here with me? I mean, I know that I brought you here against your will, but I'd like to think that we've moved beyond that, that we have…a relationship." I looked down coyly at this. I could feel her moving closer.

"Of course we do. Edward, I know you're…old-fashioned, but I want to…" she broke off her statement and, moving closer to me, slipped her warm hands up to my shoulders and kissed me.

Halle-fucking-lujah! I could taste the flour on her mouth and the sweetness of her lips and the glorious taste of victory.

I didn't want to end the kiss but I couldn't resist pulling away from her long enough to look into her not-brown-for-long eyes and smile broadly. "Bella, you don't know how happy you've made me! I've got to go call Carlisle and a justice of the peace."

I danced out of the room with my little girl following me slowly in confusion.

I cleared it up for her soon enough and, to her credit, my angelic little bride-to-be took it all in stride.

When Carlisle arrived the next day, I tried hard not to gloat at how I had beaten him again. Ok, so I _kinda_ tried not to gloat.

Carlisle was solicitous of my fiancée and she assured him that she was all right with what was about to happen. But her last living request pulled the rug out from under me.

"Edward, I'm scared about feeding on humans. Would it be a terrible thing if I wanted to…eat the way the Cullens do? Maybe just at first?"

"Bella," I tsk-tsked her. "You know I have an image to maintain here in the Underworld. What's it going to look like if my wife is a vegetarian?"

Bella looked at me with those big brown eyes and that irresistible pout and continued. "It's just that I don't think that I'm ready to accept the whole 'killing people' thing, and it would make it easier for me to adjust to my new life if I had some time to focus on my new husband and not all the guilt."

I couldn't stand saying no to her, and the thought of having every single bit of her attention swayed me. I looked at Carlisle, who gave me a shrug of the shoulders, and I sighed. "Alright, love-of-my-endless-life, but it's just short-term, ok?"

She smiled at me and nodded, moving closer to me on the couch to curl into my side, and I marveled at my incredible skill at having my cake and eating it, too.

I paid some civil servant a small fortune to tie the never-ending knot for us and reluctantly bid farewell to my new wife. Carlisle had convinced me that there was no way I could expect my marital privileges with my dove in her delicate mortal state. It was a hard sell, I'm ashamed to say. I was eager to get into my scrumptious darling's bed, but Jasper informed me that my wife was having some of her own well-founded fears about surviving the wedding night, so I bid her a painful adieu and erred on the side of caution.

I burned up the phone lines between Seattle and Forks over the next few days, longing to see my newborn darling. When her change was complete and she had fed, presumably on some vile forest creature, the Cullens set up a video chat for us and we were all "I love yous" and a little heavy breathing.

I tried to extract an invitation from Carlisle to visit, but he seemed wary of having me for a sleepover, citing a rumor that he heard that the Italians were coming over for a visit and saying we were better off keeping our "friendship" low profile.

He had a point. Aro can read my mind, and the last thing I wanted him to do is see how big my circle of friends had become.

So I bided my time for a few more days but, after another unsatisfying conversation with Carlisle, I was brooding around the penthouse, wishing I could be with my exquisite, everlasting wife, when I was struck with a sudden sledgehammer of distressing doubt.

I was suddenly convinced that Carlisle was stalling, keeping me away from Forks to give my newly immortal angel time to get away. I was horrified that I trusted him with my sweetheart and was kicking myself. How could I have gone along with all this?

I was furious and desperate as I summoned all the members of my immortal motley crew that I could and hightailed it to Forks to kill a vampire about a girl.

**a/n: Betham betas this beautifully and attempts to control my alliteration actively. There's just one chapters left after this. Thanks for the reviews! xoxo JuJu**


	4. Ascent

**Chapter 4: Ascent**

Jasper was going over battle plans in his head on the drive to Forks; he was beyond thrilled to finally have something on a larger scale than a half-dozen bickering vampires . He swore he hadn't seen anything this exciting since Vicksburg.

I was still in a desperate fury when we arrived at the self-same Cullen Manor that I had visited to set this whole maelstrom of events into motion. It was curiously quiet, something that convinced me that they _had_ absconded with my better half.

We were amassed outside the big white house where those bastard bride-thieves lived when I realized that, not only were several of the Cullens inside the house innocently tending to domestic tasks, but there were quite a few unfamiliar individuals coming towards us from the edge of the woods. I took a deep breath and then realized that my conviction that Carlisle had double-crossed me was gone. Vanished.

Also curiously missing from the scene was the one person I knew who could manipulate a fellow's feelings. My confidante, my best blood-buddy, my right hand, was suddenly not at hand.

But on-site was a large, malevolent, dark-cloaked mass of monsters. The Volturi were here, and they had me outflanked and outnumbered.

A long-haired, foppish fellow stepped forward and regarded me with amusement.

"You must be Edward," he said in a bored, affected tone with an unidentifiable accent. "A pleasure." He stretched his wickedly white hand, and I knew that this was Aro, the boss of the baddest of the bad vampires. I was in big trouble.

I took his hand, hoping that compliance would keep my head attached to my shoulders where I preferred it. He held my hand as he sucked the memories out of my head and gulped them down. When we parted, he shook an elegant finger at me.

"You've been naughty, Edward. You have an awfully large group of immortals here. What could you possibly need with so many friends?" I grinned at him with what I hoped was an endearing grin.

"I get lonely?" I shrugged my shoulders. Aro shook his head slowly and then gestured to his army of antagonistic-looking helpers. "Destroy them all." I looked at him, wide-eyed. "Except my new friend Edward, of course."

I watched in numb amazement as the Volturi guard took down every last member of my coven. I can't say that I didn't care, but most of my worry at that moment was wrapped up in the survival of my own precious skin and the welfare of my lovely wife. I still saw neither hide nor hair of Jasper or Bella. Carlisle strolled out of the house and onto the lawn of his little suburban battle zone, where Aro greeted him like an old friend.

"Carlisle, my friend, your neighbor here was approaching your family home with an alarmingly large group of thugs. Is there bad blood between you two?"

Carlisle regarded me sadly. "I didn't realize there was, until today." He looked at me with an expression of regret. "His delightful new wife was even staying with us. How could you, Edward?" I looked at Carlisle, bewildered. Frankly, I had no idea what was going on. I was utterly perplexed.

"Ah, yes. The lovely Isabella." Aro spoke with a sigh. I glanced at him sharply. I needed to know what had become of my Bella. As unlikely as it seemed, I actually found myself caring about the welfare of another creature, perhaps even more so than my own all-important well-being.

I was stunned to see Aro wave his hand to the pile of burning vampire parts and shake his head sadly. "An unfortunate necessity."

Bella was dead? I was devastated. I barely paid attention as Aro and Carlisle discussed what would happen to me. I slumped to the ground while they discussed me like an errant child.

"I don't want to destroy you, young Edward. You have such potential. It would be a waste. Don't you agree, Carlisle?" Carlisle nodded.

"I think that what I shall do is allow you to live, but I am putting you under the care of my dear old friend. That is, if you are willing to take him in?" Aro looked at Carlisle, who nodded seriously.

"I will do my best to see that Edward learns the error of his ways. He will, of course, have to adopt our diet and find a way to make himself useful to humanity."

"I have no doubt that he will rise to the occasion, my friend. Edward, if you separate yourself from Carlisle's care we will know, and we will make sure that no piece of you larger than a speck of dust remains. Am I understood?"

I nodded numbly and allowed Carlisle to lead me into the house, where I shuffled past the other Cullens - my new "family" - and up to a spacious bedroom that they had evidently put aside for guests and involuntary adoptees.

They told me that they would give me time to get myself together after the shock, and left me alone in my new room.

I lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. In the space of a few hours I had been deprived of my empire, betrayed by my best friend, tragically widowed, and told I would be posing as the son of a country doctor and would eat only wildlife for the rest of my never-ending life. I was a tad overwhelmed, to say the least.

I was musing on ways to end the suffering I was sure to experience when a familiar mind approached my door. I met my former best friend at the door with a growl.

"You." I said, pointing a finger at my ex-companion. "You betrayed me." I glared at him and tried to calculate the chances of defeating him in a fight. He smiled at me and held his palms out in a gesture of surrender.

"Aro's gonna come right back here if we're fighting, you know." At that moment a tiny, black-haired girl entered the room. I knew this must be Alice. The contents of her mind were like nothing I had ever seen. I saw events that had already happened that she couldn't have possibly seen: Bella kissing me in the penthouse, Jasper and I meeting to discuss abducting Bella from Forks. I stared at her in awe.

"Don't worry, dear. You and Edward aren't going to fight." She slipped under his arm, and I could see it in both of their thoughts: love. Jasper was in love with this little witch, and it had been going on for some time.

"You betrayed me for a woman?" I stared at him incredulously. Jasper shrugged at me. "I've been alone for a century and a half, Edward. I'm not saying that you weren't a good friend and a nice boss, but…" he gestured to her. She giggled and extended her hand for me to shake. I glared at it as if it were dog food.

"Oh, come on, Edward. We're going to be good friends in time. I've seen it!"

"You saw all of it. This is your doing." She could see the future. I saw how I had been fooled. My "winning" the two wagers, Bella asking to be here to change, Jasper putting the doubt in my head so I would expose myself in front of the Volturi. It was all a trap. Alice took a miniature bow.

"I can't take all the credit for changing your life, Edward. Jasper did his bit. As did Carlisle. And of course the whole thing would have been impossible without Bella."

I was reminded again of the terrible fate that befell my lovely Bella, and again tried to think of ways to end it all. Could I convince Jasper to help me out one more time?

"Edward, you big baby," Alice giggled. I wanted to kill her and I'd only known her for three minutes. "Why don't you wait, oh, I don't know," she looks at her watch, "three minutes before you swallow your service revolver." I glared at her. I just wanted to be alone in my misery, and she and her soul mate, my former best friend, were getting in the way of my wallowing.

"What difference is three minutes going to make?" I looked at my formerly fiendish friend and sniffed. "Jasper, with all due respect, can you and your precious little Ouji board get out of here and let me suffer alone?"

"We'll let you sulk on your own, boss," Jasper patted me on the shoulder and tried to pull that grinning little architect of my demise out of the room with him. She looked at me with a childish pout.

"I want to see it!" she exclaimed, and resisted his pull. She winked at me and then reached over and straightened the collar of my shirt. I flinched away from her. She shrugged and put her hands on her hips. "If you want to look like a slob when she gets here, that's your business!" she said with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

"What are you talking about?" I couldn't get anything from her head. It was almost like deliberate nonsense in there: exercise videos, images from a catalog, a scene from what looked like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Then I heard the rapid beat of footsteps and through the open doorway comes…my Bella. Alive and kicking. I could only stare at her white marble skin and ruby eyes. I'd never been so relieved in my life.

Without pausing, she threw herself into my arms, wrapping her arms and legs around me and hitting me with all the force of a flying newborn vampire. It sent me backwards several yards, but I stayed on my feet and wrapped my arms around her.

"Bella," was all I could choke out, burying my face in her brown hair. I glanced up to see Jasper and Alice over her shoulder, beaming at me. I didn't want to let my undead angel go, but I had to know what had happened because I just didn't think that my black heart could deal with any more surprises.

I pulled her away enough to look from her face to those of my new siblings. "Can someone let me know what I missed?" is all I could ask, bewildered and befuddled as I was.

"We hid Bella," Jasper said. "Aro wanted her destroyed before he met her, just to punish you, and Alice saw that if he met her, he would take her back to Italy. Because of her shield." Jasper tapped the side of his head to indicate the lockdown that was my baby's mind.

"So we hid her. Aro's goons are actually convinced that they got her, there were so many in your coven." Alice spoke up, looking fondly at Bella. This reminded me that Bella had been in on this deception. I held her out at arm's length and scrutinized her.

"How much of this did you know about, my sweetheart?" She looked at the floor sheepishly and then, peeking at me sideways through her long lashes, she said, "All of it. Do you hate me?" I stared at her, thinking of the implications.

"You knew that when you kissed me, it meant that you would become this?" I gestured to her, red eyes, exquisite, permanent, alabaster perfection.

She nodded. "I knew that I would save the lives of a lot of humans that you and your coven would have fed on." I started to turn away from her but she stopped me. "And I knew that I would be able to be with you forever. Alice showed me how much I would love you even before I met you." I looked back at her. She was watching me earnestly, afraid that I would reject her.

"That part was true?" I asked, breathless, not daring to believe. "You really fell in love with me?" She nodded.

I was strongly tempted to let her off the hook before I remembered something. "Then why did you wait to kiss me until the last day of the wager? I mean, you knew what was going to happen. Why make me suffer?" I tried to refrain from smiling but I couldn't. Neither could she. She gave me a broad grin and wrapped her arms around me again. I let her. She giggled in my ear.

"You kidnapped me. I had to have s_ome_ fun with you." It was then that I realized that my ambition, my hunger for power be damned, I had been beaten, fair and square by this little girl. I had lost my Underworld kingdom, but I had gained a queen.

Now, I won't pretend that I'm happy about eating animals. Really, it's like having a warm dirt milkshake for every meal. Forever.

And living with the Cullens is _not_ as cool as having my own Seattle penthouse. I have to listen to the thoughts of the same people day after day, without even the respite of sleep. Rosalie is just plain vapid _and_ resentful, a horrific combination. Carlisle and Esme are sweet, but so stupefyingly _good_ so much of the time it makes my fangs hurt. Emmett's thoughts make me feel like I'm living in an episode of "The Dukes of Hazzard."

I miss having other creatures at my beck and call. I had quite enjoyed being top dog and to suddenly find myself pumping my own gas and taking out the garbage was rather humiliating. And don't even get me started on high school.

Occasionally, I'll consider the life I had lost - the grandeur, the delicious malevolence, and the power - and compare it to my life now, with high school students and listening to Emmett and Rosalie have sex and having to eat things with fur. My beloved will notice me getting a little down at the mouth.

And then my Bella, my dark-haired Delilah, my supernatural Salome, will gesture to my new kingdom: the messy third floor bedroom of the Cullen's house, our bodies tangled up in the sheets of our bed, clothes torn in our haste to be naked together, furniture smashed to bits by our passion.

"I guess it's not much compared to being able to prance around Seattle being a big important vampire." She'll sigh and rest her head on my chest and I'll admit how crazy I'm being, and then I'll let her remind me why I wouldn't trade this for _any _world.

Ok, so maybe I just pretend to be sad so she'll have to cheer me up. You can't expect me to change overnight, can you?

**a/n: Betham betas it, the poor thing. Thanks for all the love for this peculiar little story. xoxo JuJu**


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